This invention relates generally to ultrasound and more particularly to automatically identifying image views from within a three-dimensional (3D) dataset.
Numerous tools for quantitative analysis of 3D echocardiograms are available. In particular, assessment of the left ventricle is of interest. With 3D echocardiography, arbitrary image slices may be extracted from acquired volumes, which may be acquired as a series of image frames covering the cardiac cycle. Some level of input from the user is needed, however. For example, existing tools require manual alignment of the left ventricular long-axis, which increases examination time. Due to the time required, the user may identify the apex and base, that is, the top and bottom, of the heart on one image frame. These landmarks are then applied to the remaining image frames. Therefore, the remaining image frames or slices remain at fixed spatial positions within the image volume throughout the cardiac cycle.
The heart moves, however, during contraction, and thus the position of the heart moves within the image frames. Therefore, the myocardial tissue being displayed differs during the cardiac cycle. This is especially a problem for basal short-axis slices, where the longitudinal shortening may be up to 1.2 centimeters during the cardiac cycle. The resulting out-of-plane motion can give rise to artificial wall thickening unrelated to cardiac contraction, and basal slices can end up in the atria at end systole.